His grandfather, Dale Mahlum, is a local horse breeder who knows a thing or two about finding and blending that perfect mix in his thoroughbreds.
And like his grandfather's horses, Kirk is built for explosion and swiftness.
The senior running back will lead his team into the quarterfinals of the Class A state football playoffs Saturday against Hardin. Kickoff is 1 p.m. at Henrie Lavoie Field in Frenchtown.
Leadership is not a light thing with the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Kirk. As one of just two senior starters on the team, the responsibility is draped across his shoulders like a barbell loaded with weight.
Fortunately, Kirk knows a thing or two about heavy lifting.
In fact, get him started on the subject and it's hard to navigate back to the gridiron.
“I like training almost as much as I do football,” Kirk says. “Lifting is where it's at. I always wanted to weight train, always wanted to be the best.”
Kirk began lifting as a freshman, encouraged by Frenchtown senior Steven Pfahler. At the time, Pfahler was making a name for himself as a tight end and would eventually sign to play football for the Montana Grizzlies.
With the help of Pfahler and another Frenchtown alumnus, Doug Lefler, Kirk plunged into training. Kirk particularly enjoyed Olympic weightlifting, which features the snatch, clean and jerk. It's a type of lifting that builds power in the legs, hips and core - perfect for bowling over would-be tacklers.
Lefler, a former standout javelin thrower at UM and Long Beach State who competed in the U.S. Olympic trials last summer, has been especially helpful, Kirk says.
“We talk a lot about lifting and philosophical ideas (involving competition). Lefler always says, ‘Run as hard as you can with the attitude that no one can stop you. You've just got to believe that no one can stop you.' ... I run with that in my mind.”
To aid in his physical development, Kirk built his own lifting platform in his grandmother's garage, complete with rubber rests where he can drop the weight without damaging the floor.
“Olympic lifting is an explosive movement,” Kirk says. “It really helps with that burst. It's more of an athletic lift ... it's not about looks. It's about being the best you can be.”
Being the best is a phrase that pops up frequently in a conversation with Kirk. Not because he thinks he is ... far from it. He is decidedly soft-spoken, almost embarrassed about his accomplishments on the football field.
“I just block (compliments) out,” Kirk says. “I basically tell myself that I'm not the best, I've got to keep working to be the best. I kind of believe that you are never the best ... you always just work, work, work.”
What is remarkable about Kirk, particularly compared to many high school athletes, is how much he enjoys the work.
“It is rare, very rare to find someone with the natural ability he has and the work ethic to go along with it,” Frenchtown coach Steve Pinsoneault says.
“It really is amazing. It's leadership by example, and it's something we'll be able to use long after Cody is gone,” he adds. “We'll be looking at our guys next year and the year after, and basically anybody that remembers anything he did ... and using his example.”
Kirk's presence has been critical for the 7-1 Broncs the entire year, but perhaps never more so than in Frenchtown's final regular-season game at Hamilton.
After a back-and-forth battle, Frenchtown held a 29-22 lead midway through the fourth quarter. But Hamilton, with its powerful offensive line, was closing in for the tying score before fumbling at the 5-yard line.
On the next play, Kirk made Hamilton pay.
“We hand the ball to number seven and he takes off down our sideline,” Pinsoneault says. “It was very well-blocked, but that 95-yarder speaks for itself.
“A year ago, he probably wouldn't have made that run,” the coach adds. “Literally, that's what this kid has done for himself with his hard work. He's faster, he's stronger. That's the difference.”
Not that Kirk was baking cookies as a junior. In fact, he rolled up 1,341 yards. That total combined with Kirk's 1,739 so far this season gives him 3,080 over his two seasons as a starter.
Kirk has averaged 217 yards a game as a senior and a ridiculous 11.8 yards a carry to go along with 16 touchdowns. Among his many highlights was a school-record 372-yard effort in a 42-8 victory over Dillon.
The game stands out in Kirk's mind, not only for what happened on the field that night, but what happened the next game.
Corvallis handed the Broncs their lunch, drilling them 28-7.
“I'm glad we lost that game,” he says. “We started to read about ourselves too much, and (losing) woke us up. Corvallis came out and hit us, they hit us hard, and it just went from there. If we wouldn't have lost to Corvallis, I think we would have lost to Hamilton.”
If you think that sounds like something a coach might say, you're not alone.
“Cody follows in a line of succession of seniors that I've had here as the coach that have led by example ... but he's taken it to another level entirely,” says Pinsoneault, now in his fourth year at Frenchtown and eighth as a head coach. “It's very rare when you're lucky enough to have someone with natural ability and the ability to think as a coach out there on the field.”
Like any good coach, Kirk, who also starts at safety, is quick to spread the praise to the rest of the team, particularly his offensive line.
“We have a young offensive line, very young. When I look back, I was thinking, ‘Oh man, a bunch of juniors.' But these guys did such a great job.”
And Kirk goes down his mental list, and then checks the reporter's notebook to make sure all of them are named.
Tight ends Derrick Dauenhauer, Sean Amundson and Richard Weber. Tackles Devon Marsh and Jake Anderson. Guards Kelly Ruple, Billy Miner and Xander Daniels. Center Taylor Amundson. And not a senior among them.
“I'm very impressed with those guys,” Kirk says. “We are so young, but I just thought it was interesting that they all came out and played so well.”
As Kirk heads into the playoffs for the final time in a high school uniform, his focus is on the task at hand.
“I try not to think about (the pressure),” he says. “I just want to go out and win. I'm not nervous. Having this bye week actually gave me more of an itch to get out there. I just approach it the same way every game ... win.”
But there will certainly be more football for Kirk, no matter what happens against Hardin - or beyond.
The University of Montana, Montana State and Carroll College have contacted him, though at this point he's not sure where he might end up.
And his family isn't much help.
Kirk and his parents, Tim and Connie, live on the Mahlum ranch east of Frenchtown. Kirk's uncle, Tom Mahlum, also owns a house on the property.
“My dad's a big Griz,” Kirk says.
And Tom was a receiver for the Bobcats on their 1984 national championship team.
And Kirk's brother, Mac, is currently a receiver at Carroll.
“I have no idea,” Kirk says. “I've got a few months to make up my mind. Right now I just want to win these next three games.”
Three more victories would give Frenchtown its first state title since 1997, when it competed as a Class B school.
And it would certainly be a nice graduation present for Kirk, who has given so much to the program.
“There's a term called servant leadership, where they have the ability to do the right thing and everybody else will follow them,” Pinsoneault says. “That's the way Cody has always been.
“My wife made a comment to me one day when (Kirk) was a sophomore. ‘That kid's going to be your next stud,' she told me. And this was someone who objectively doesn't know a lot of football.”
Maybe not. But she clearly had some horse sense.
Reporter John Smithers can be reached at 523-5257 or at jsmithers@missoulian.com.
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